Bank notes: Research and reports

Get quick access to our research papers, public consultations and surveys related to bank notes.

See also our backgrounders and explainers on bank notes.

Research papers

You can browse all our staff research on bank notes. Here's the latest:

Data Externalities, Market Power, and the Optimal Design of Central Bank Digital Currencies

This paper studies how a central bank should design a CBDC when private payment providers collect and monetize transaction data. It characterizes the optimal CBDC’s pricing and data policy, and shows how its effects on private payment use and total data depend on market power and data externalities.

The trade-offs between different designs of tokenized systems

Sparks at Bank article Sriram Darbha, Rakesh Arora
As interest in tokenization grows, so too does the focus on the design of tokenized systems. Different approaches—such as centralized or decentralized systems—could achieve similar outcomes. But the choice of design involves consequential trade-offs that shape how the entire ecosystem evolves.

The Impact of Potential Retail Central Bank Digital Currency on the Canadian Financial System During a Severe Recession

Staff analytical paper 2026-30 Sofia Priazhkina
This policy note examines how a non-interest-bearing retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) could affect the financial stability of Canada’s systemically important banks during a severe recession. Stress test results show that the banks remain resilient, maintaining key regulatory ratios even under high CBDC demand.

Tokenization: What it is and how to think about it

Tokenization involves representing traditional assets as tokens on a digital platform. This financial innovation has the potential to reshape money and markets, but a common approach for comparing system designs and weighing efficiency gains against risks has yet to be defined. We offer such an approach to improve understanding of this expanding technology and guide policy discussions.

Banking Competition and Access to Cash and Retail Banking Services in Rural Canada

Staff working paper 2026-19 Hongyu Xiao, Robert Petrunia, Sarah Lucky
We study access to Canadian retail banking and cash services in rural, localized markets using the Bresnahan-Reiss entry threshold framework. We find that the first retail banking services branch entry requires about 500 residents in an average market, whereas the first cash services location requires about 80 residents.

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Public consultations

Consulting Canadians on visual content is integral to our design process for new bank notes.

Principles for Bank Note Design Consultation

Read the highlights of this consultation, and see how the design principles have been applied to bank notes like these.

Surveys

The Bank regularly surveys Canadian businesses and citizens to better understand how and why cash is used by assessing awareness, attitudes, and behaviours with respect to bank notes.

Survey results allow the Bank to monitor its progress, to identify potential issues or opportunities, and to adapt its programs, tools, and services as needed.

Surveys currently underway:
  • Merchant Acceptance Survey

Bank Note Confidence Survey

The Bank of Canada supplies Canadians with bank notes they can use with confidence—notes that are readily accepted and secure against counterfeiting. To monitor and assess public confidence in the authenticity of bank notes, we survey a representative sample of 2,700 residents of Canada annually.

Methods-of-Payment Survey

The Bank of Canada surveys Canadian consumers to get a better understanding of how they pay for goods and services.

Merchant Acceptance Survey

The Merchant Acceptance Survey (MAS) helps the Bank of Canada understand trends when it comes to the methods of payment accepted by Canadian businesses.

Cash and COVID-19: What happened in 2021

Using data from the Bank Note Distribution System and consumer surveys, we find that bank notes in circulation remained high through 2021. Canadians continued to rely on electronic methods of payment, but a significant share also continued using cash for payments.

Frontiers Series: 2011–12 Awareness Survey

This survey measured Canadians’ awareness of the polymer bank notes. Respondents were asked if they recalled hearing of any upcoming changes to Canadian bank notes, and if so, where they first heard of the polymer bank notes.

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